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Winter Bear
Stuffed plush bear with scarf around his neck & snowflakes on his feet.
32 pages, Paperback
First published September 16, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 7, 2012
When my son was small we went to the library a lot. Actually I still go to the library a lot. Anyhow one day I signed out this book. I don't know if Nicholas liked it as much as I did but I loved it. The simple story. The beautiful spare illustrations. The idea of children playing outside all day and finding a treasure. I live in a cold climate. While this book doesn't really seem wintry to me it does evoke long November days and dusks when things are brown and quiet, before the snows come. I bought an old library copy of it. I keep it in my night side table and I just read it. I still love it.
March 19, 2021
I may have fallen in a little in love with this little rhyming picturebook. Although Craft's poem works fine on its own, Blegvad's captivating illustrations invite you right into this cold yet joyful landscape. Three siblings wrap up warm as they had out of their little village home to play and explore the frosty surroundings. It may seem barren at first glance but children always know where to look.
As they jump over frozen puddles and hover near tiny streams, they play and create with dried weeds and sticks - they know the names of local plants and seeds - and look out for the animals who wear their very own coats.
Everything about this little book is perfect, the metre, the warmth of the rhyme against the biting cold of the outdoors. Divine.
As they jump over frozen puddles and hover near tiny streams, they play and create with dried weeds and sticks - they know the names of local plants and seeds - and look out for the animals who wear their very own coats.
Everything about this little book is perfect, the metre, the warmth of the rhyme against the biting cold of the outdoors. Divine.
December 14, 2019
This is one of the most delightful of picture books for this time of year. A perfect blend of poetry and watercolour & ink illustrations, The Winter Bear tells the story of three children who set off for a brief brisk walk in the countryside as dusk and snow approach and discover something lodged, tatty and unloved, in some branches.
Retrieving it with difficulty they return home to render it presentable and something to be loved. As a mini-saga, a journey with a beginning, middle and end, it's as beautiful a miniature to look at as well as to read aloud.
It opens with preparations for the expedition:
And so they set out across the fields, away from the farmhouse and outbuildings, as the sun sinks lower in the sky.
They walk on walls, jump across streams, count birds, make a posy ("In winter? You're crazy!") with seeds, dried weeds, bryony vine and old man's beard, stroke a cow's back: "Even a cow wears a sensible coat just now."
And then, as it starts to snow, they spot something caught high up in a hedge. It's
As the snowflakes thicken the three rush home to where their Mum is waiting, crying out "Here's a bear | In the winter with nothing to wear, | He must have something on!" And so it is that he is dried and dolls clothes put on him, and he is ensconced in the best arm chair: "A warm friendly place | For a cold winter bear."
This complementary combination of images and words unites delight and compassion. We don't need to know the backstories, we just need the comforting rhythm of the words and rhymes, the magic of the snow falling and the chimney smoke rising into the cold air and the rescued bear safe and snug and warm.
Blegvad's sensitive wash of watercolours absolutely capture the details as well as the feel of a crisp winter's late afternoon, while Craft's words echo the lilt of childhood phrases and nursery rhymes. For young minds, and not a few older ones, this seasonal story must surely offer a modicum of comfort and joy.
Retrieving it with difficulty they return home to render it presentable and something to be loved. As a mini-saga, a journey with a beginning, middle and end, it's as beautiful a miniature to look at as well as to read aloud.
It opens with preparations for the expedition:
You'd think it was a shipwreck,
But as you know,
When you walk in the winter,
Wherever you go,
You must put something on!
And so they set out across the fields, away from the farmhouse and outbuildings, as the sun sinks lower in the sky.
They walk on walls, jump across streams, count birds, make a posy ("In winter? You're crazy!") with seeds, dried weeds, bryony vine and old man's beard, stroke a cow's back: "Even a cow wears a sensible coat just now."
And then, as it starts to snow, they spot something caught high up in a hedge. It's
A brown knitted bear,
Knitted with care.
A bit damp, a bit leafy,
In need of repair,
But still, an excellent bear.
As the snowflakes thicken the three rush home to where their Mum is waiting, crying out "Here's a bear | In the winter with nothing to wear, | He must have something on!" And so it is that he is dried and dolls clothes put on him, and he is ensconced in the best arm chair: "A warm friendly place | For a cold winter bear."
This complementary combination of images and words unites delight and compassion. We don't need to know the backstories, we just need the comforting rhythm of the words and rhymes, the magic of the snow falling and the chimney smoke rising into the cold air and the rescued bear safe and snug and warm.
Blegvad's sensitive wash of watercolours absolutely capture the details as well as the feel of a crisp winter's late afternoon, while Craft's words echo the lilt of childhood phrases and nursery rhymes. For young minds, and not a few older ones, this seasonal story must surely offer a modicum of comfort and joy.
November 17, 2020
This is a truly beautiful book..Three children dress up warmly and go for a winter walk.
One makes a posy from the hedgerow and a bear is spotted high in the hedge.
"Knitted with care.
A bit damp, a bit leafy,
In need of repair,.
But still, an excellent bear."
They rush home to care for it.
The book is beautifully illustrated and has a heartwarming theme of kindness.,also of course, recycling!
The words are like poetry.
One makes a posy from the hedgerow and a bear is spotted high in the hedge.
"Knitted with care.
A bit damp, a bit leafy,
In need of repair,.
But still, an excellent bear."
They rush home to care for it.
The book is beautifully illustrated and has a heartwarming theme of kindness.,also of course, recycling!
The words are like poetry.
July 16, 2017
A gentle partially rhyming story of three children going out for a walk in early winter, finding an abandoned teddy bear as it starts to snow, and taking the bear home to look after it. Lovely atmospheric illustrations by Erik Blegvad.
I have read this book many times before - read it again tonight as I was sorting books with a view to sending some down for my granddaughter.
I have read this book many times before - read it again tonight as I was sorting books with a view to sending some down for my granddaughter.
March 7, 2018
I just happened upon this book in sorting through my mother’s library—I had never seen it or had it recommended. It looks like it could be a bit sappy but it’s anything but. The gentle verse carries you along unnoticeably, and the illustrations are rich and enjoyably everyday, except for the landscapes that soar.
October 3, 2017
And what kids wouldn't want to be outside on a cold winters day, seeking adventure as the snow begins to fall!?
A lovely simplistic story with some rhyme about the effects of winter and an important message about how to look after each other as the weather changes.
A lovely simplistic story with some rhyme about the effects of winter and an important message about how to look after each other as the weather changes.
January 15, 2018
A lovely rhyming story, about a bear who's in need of some warm clothes. Would be great for KS1 children to think about different materials in science.
October 21, 2019
A cute book with lovely illustrations as well.
April 26, 2014
The Winter Bear is a short rhyming story about three children who go out for a winter walk. As they are walking, they discover an old stuffed bear up in the branches of a tree. They use a stick to get the worn and weathered bear out of the tree. Wanting to care for the bear, they take it home, wash it, dry it, and dress it to make a warm friendly place for a cold winter bear. The bear they discover is not theirs and they don’t know where it came from. This book is not written in original story format, but in a poem format with short and sometimes incomplete sentences and questions. An interesting follow-up to this book in the classroom would be to think about what happened before the story began, and have the students write about how they think that bear got up in the tree. Students could also respond to the story by telling what they would do if they found the bear.
November 4, 2013
This is a gentle book with beautiful pen and ink illustrations that evoke the brown autumn days of late November; it just begs to be read after a blustery walk when you can warm up by the fire again. The story is simple - three children go out for a walk and find a cold and lost teddy bear - but the charm of the book is enduring. It's probably aimed at younger kids, but my 8 year old and I have been reading it for years now, and still love it - take time to soak up the atmospheric pictures, it really is part of the joy.
September 25, 2012
"wheres my boot wheres my shoe oh boo hoo hoo foo youd think it was a shipwreck but as you know when you go out in winter wherever you go you must put somthing on..." thats me remembering that from the book when i was little which was many moons ago lol totaly love this book !! so much that im buying 2 copies and making a big frame for my house telling the whole story :)
January 10, 2014
This is a sweet little book that seems dated but in the best possible way. I knew as soon as I began to read it that it must have been written in the '60s or '70s, and I was correct. It has a gentle rhythm and it really captures the mood of going out in the winter. My son wasn't as enamored of it as I was, though, and hasn't requested it again, which is why I didn't give it a higher rating.
May 9, 2016
April 2016 - one of my favorites from childhood.
May 2019 - I had to ILL this to try to solve a mystery (no luck) but it gave me a good excuse to revisit it. I'm not quite sure what made it so memorable for me, but it's a sweet story and I love the bleak cheeriness of the illustrations.
May 2019 - I had to ILL this to try to solve a mystery (no luck) but it gave me a good excuse to revisit it. I'm not quite sure what made it so memorable for me, but it's a sweet story and I love the bleak cheeriness of the illustrations.
January 22, 2013
preschool story time; narrative skills, phonological awareness.
November 22, 2013
Really nice warm illustrations with a well-rhymed sensitive plot. I loved the rush to clothe the bear toward the end of the book.
February 5, 2016
I really enjoyed this story. Heart-warming tale of a little boy finding an old tatty teddy in the snow and how he and his siblings take him under their wing.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews